Recently, I was approached by someone on my favorite tech forum and ended up on a Zoom call with a group of 11 people. They're part of a dev team called anøm, which is creating open-source social media apps aimed at promoting user anonymity and data ownership. They invited me to contribute to their team, but there's no payment involved—just volunteer work. I noticed they all had codenames and one of the leaders seemed to have a Norwegian accent. I even checked out their website and a demo of an app that splits user data into chunks for storage.
My concern is whether this venture seems questionable or even illegal. They claim to be open-source, but what could be the hidden agenda here?
4 Answers
It doesn’t seem like it would be illegal, especially if it’s meant to help people in hostile environments. But I wonder if it might be misused in the end.
I agree! If something feels off to you, listen to that instinct. Many times I've backed out of situations because my gut was warning me. Always better to be safe than sorry!
I don't think it's illegal, but I'd want to take a look at the link to see more. One thing to note is that 'anom' was once the name of a company that secretly worked with the FBI. They sold a secure Android phone but actually sent all the messages to the FBI, allowing them to monitor criminals in real time. With that history, I'd be hesitant about the name they're using.
While nothing seems overtly illegal, I feel like this could be a risky situation. It reminds me of Phantom Secure, where the CEO went to prison because he wouldn't give government access. If you're feeling uneasy about it, there's probably a good reason to trust that gut feeling.
Totally! That was one of the first things we discussed in the call. They mentioned the phone, but since it’s open-source, maybe there’s nothing sketchy going on? The link is anom.chat.